Chasing history? Mark McGwire made it Tuesday night.
McGwire, who owns the most lethal swing in baseball,
delivered the most famous swing in baseball on a 0-0 pitch
from the Cubs' Steve Trachsel in the bottom of the fourth
inning.
McGwire blasted a low, screaming liner that just cleared
the fence down the left-field line as he became the most
prolific single-season home run hitter in major-league
history. Home run No. 62 arrived at 8:18 p.m. CT and was
estimated at 341 feet -- Big Mac's shortest home run during
this season of heroics that captivated a nation.
"I tell you what, I was so shocked
because I didn't think the ball had
enough to get out," McGwire said.
"It's an absolutely incredible
feeling. I can honestly say I did it."
When McGwire realized it was
gone, he threw his arms into the air
and nearly missed first base as he
shook hands with first-base coach
Dave McKay. He came back to
touch it.
He was congratulated by each of
the Cubs infielders -- first baseman Mark Grace, second
baseman Mickey Morandini, shortstop Jose Hernandez and
third baseman Gary Gaetti, whom he embraced in a big
hug.
"He was pretty generous with his emotions," Gaetti said.
"He wanted to give me a hug, so I couldn't refuse it. The
guy doesn't know his own strength. He nearly broke my
back."
Cubs catcher Scott Servais reached out to shake
McGwire's hand as he neared home plate, but McGwire
hugged him, too.
McGwire also touched his chest and pointed to the sky in
honor of Roger Maris, the previous record-holder with 61
home runs who died of cancer in 1985.
"I just hope I didn't act foolish. This is history," McGwire
said of his emotional trot around the bases.
After reaching home plate, he picked up his 10-year-old
son, Matt, and was then mobbed by his teammates. The
Cardinals bullpen joined join the celebration. He hugged
manager Tony La Russa, his skipper for many years in
Oakland as well.
Sammy Sosa, who has pursued McGwire all season, came
in from right field, the two embraced and Sosa was lifted
into the air by McGwire. Sosa patted McGwire on the
back, the two exchanged high-fives and repeated the
Cardinals' now-famous home run ritual.
McGwire went into the stands to hug the six children of
Maris, who were in attendance. Maris' widow, Patricia,
was back in a St. Louis hospital on Tuesday night for the
second time in three days with an irregular heartbeat.
After McGwire finished celebrating with his teammates
and the Maris family, he grabbed a microphone to address
the sellout crowd, which was still standing and cheering.
"To all my family, my son, the Cubs, Sammy Sosa. It's
unbelievable," McGwire said. "Thank you, St. Louis."
After the game resumed --
which St. Louis eventually won
6-3 -- Trachsel struck out Ray
Lankford to end the inning.
McGwire took his position at
first base to another thunderous
cheer.
Sosa came to the plate 15
minutes after McGwire's homer
and got a standing ovation. The
crowd then chanted "Sammy,
Sammy" as he faced Kent
Mercker, who was booed by the
home crowd after throwing a
pitch in the dirt. Sosa ended up
walking, to a cascade of boos
for Mercker.
McGwire's No. 62 ball actually
never reached the stands, as it
hit off the wall of the lower
deck. It was recovered by Tim
Forneris, a member of the
grounds crew, who returned it to
McGwire during the postgame
ceremony in which the
Cardinals gifted McGwire with
a Cardinal red '62 Corvette.
"Right when it hit off the bat, I
knew it was going out and it
went right over the sign. There
was a bunch of ground-crew
guys on the wall. But I was right
on the edge and I said, 'That ball is mine."'
Before the game, McGwire held the bat that Maris used to
hit his 61st homer in 1961 and rubbed it against his chest.
"Roger, I hope you're with me tonight," McGwire said.
McGwire, who appeared anxious in grounding out on a 3-0
pitch in the first inning, hit his solo shot on the first pitch
from Trachsel and triggered an 11-minute delay, baseball's
biggest midgame celebration since Cal Ripken broke Lou
Gehrig's consecutive games record in 1995.
The home run, despite its short distance, surely will rank
as one of the biggest in history, up there with the ones hit
by Bobby Thomson, Bill Mazeroski, Hank Aaron, Carlton
Fisk, Kirk Gibson and Joe Carter.
The 34-year-old slugger also did it at home, just like he
wanted. The Cardinals begin a five-game road trip
Wednesday, and McGwire wanted to share the moment
with the fans and city he has embraced since Oakland
traded him to St. Louis on July 31, 1997.
McGwire homered in the Cardinals' 145th game of the
season. It was his 137th game of the year. Maris played in
159 games in 1961 while Ruth played in 151 of the
Yankees' 154 games in 1927.
A beyond-capacity crowd at Busch Stadium arrived early
and cheered McGwire's every move, from a six-home run
performance in batting practice to his pregame introduction
to his walking out to first base in the top of the first inning.
They also gave Sosa, McGwire's nearest pursuer with 58
home runs coming into the game, a standing ovation when
he came to bat in the top of the first inning.
McGwire sprinted to the record. Tuesday's blast was
McGwire's seventh home run in his last seven games and
third since returning to St. Louis for a five-game homestand
last Friday. Since hitting just two home runs in a 19-game
stretch from July 28-Aug. 19, McGwire has gone deep 15
times.
With the Cardinals out of contention, McGwire may take
off a few days over the final 18 games; the season ends
Sept. 27. He is just four homers ahead of Sosa, who figures
to play every day down the stretch with the Cubs still in the
NL wild-card race.
McGwire's run to greatness began
immediately back on March 31 -- he hit a grand slam
homer off the Dodgers' Ramon Martinez on Opening Day
and homered in his first four games, tying a record set by
Willie Mays. From that week on, the pressure was
enormous and the media coverage grew to unbelievable
proportions throughout the season: there were more than
700 media members on hand Tuesday.
McGwire sluggled three home runs against Arizona on
April 14 and three more at Philadelphia on May 19. On
May 16, he sluggled a 545-foot blast off Livan Hernandez
of the Marlins, his longest blast of the season. The shot is
commemorated in Busch Stadium with a big band-aid
pasted on the scoreboard.
In July, he set the mark for the fastest to reach 40 homers in
a season. In August, he came the first player to reach 50
home runs in three straight years. And then came
September and the most memorable month of all.
At one point in mid-June, McGwire complained that he felt
like a "caged animal" because of all the attention his BP
sessions were attracting. Later in the season, as the media
hordes started to increase, he was stung by an Associated
Press report that he used Androstenedione, an
over-the-counter workout supplement that is legal in
major-league baseball and the NBA but banned by the
NFL, NCAA and International Olympic Committee.
In the end, Big Mac thrived despite the pressure. But hey,
this was a guy born to set records: In his first at-bat in
Little League, he hit a home run.